The social media space is growing, The Big Three – Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter – are the most popular modes of web interaction. There are other common interest focused sites that are emerging; some interesting alternatives are:
Hot Potato. The site allows users to organize tags by interest, such as music, books, food, etc. This enables users to connect via common interest topics and share activities under a specific topic as well as engage in real-time conversations. Please note, this site was recently purchased by Facebook (August 2010). It should relaunch shortly. Blog updates can be found here.
CitySense. A real-time geo mobile application that displays the overall activity of a city. It answers the question ”where is everyone going right now?” The application shows top activity hotspots and enables the user to link to Yelp and Google to map the venues. Access the site @ CitySense. The application is free and allows users to delete personal historical data to ensure security.
Hunch. The site is based on a question selection algorithm. Based on a user’s response to a series of questions, usually 10 or less, Hunch will provide a recommendation to address the user’s query. Recommendations are based on the collective knowledge of the community. Responses are organized in a useful manner to offer customized answers. Results may not align with your personal taste, but the concept is intriguing. Try it for yourself @ Hunch.
Lunch. This site is similar to Hunch in that data is based on recommendations and reviews of similar minded people. Lunch enables users to share and discover personally information relevant information. Looking for a local plumber? Want to know where to find the best vintage wear? Look it up on Lunch.
Above is a small sampling of new and interesting social sites based on you and your specific interest. What are you interested in? Have you found a site that caters to your specific interests? Please share.
I’ve always considered myself a decisive person. I don’t make spontaneous, knee-jerk decisions about things that have long lasting ramifications. For example, weekend getaways are planned, birthday celebrations are planned – sometimes even lunch and dinner menus are planned. I like to plan. Having an outline of what I would like to do is comforting to me. So why am I unable to decide upon a target market?
My first choice was the IT/Finance industry, and then I focused on executives. After I thought I found my true calling in the non-profit industry. Everyone has a cause. Furthering a good cause will warm the heart – if not the pocket – I should be content. Shouldn’t I? I do like to help people, organizations, causes, so it appeared to be a perfect match. It was a perfect match until someone suggested that I investigate the possibility of becoming an Author’s Assistant. Wow – a new shiny object to follow. But where does that leave my business? The answer: on the treadmill – moving but going nowhere. Am I afraid to succeed? I have become my own roadblock. Another way to view this situation is to believe that nothing happens before its time. OK – so I call “time” now!
I have a very patient business coach and I recently “won” two laser coaching sessions with another business coach. Both persons are successful business owners who are willing to share their knowledge and expertise. So the time is now. The stars are aligned – the moment is here – all the clichés that relate to seizing the moment translate to me as: get off the treadmill and start to climb the ladder.
Stay tuned for the journey.
Geo-tagging is the new shiny object in the social media arena. Therefore, we should expect similar applications (apps) to appear in its wake. In line with that expectation an application called Shopkick has been developed for smart phone users. The app tracks customer movement from outside the store to various points within the store such as the dressing room, cash register and moving from floor to floor. Think of it as your virtual personal shopper.
Shopkick is similar to other geo-social apps in that users are able to accumulate points – called kickbucks – towards gift cards from the retailer. Retailers have found their marketing edge – a customized shopping experience as well as an opportunity to influence and analysis consumer behavior.
Personally, I enjoy the evolution of technology. My phone allows me to stay connected – email, Facebook, Twitter, the web – but I draw the line at allowing myself to be tracked at any given moment. What is the pay-off for that level of intrusion? A $5 gift card? Storage of my habits and preferences in the clouds?
What’s your opinion? Is Shopkick the natural progression to geo-apps? Are we exposing too much of ourselves in the world of Web 2.0? Please comment.
Being social comes naturally to most people. Before the popularity of the internet, socializing or networking was done formally – business conferences – or informally – meeting at the local pub. The development of social sites such as FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn has added another option to our ability to network, i.e. socialize.
Evolution is inevitable. Society seeks to improve upon existing technology – make it faster, more specific, more personalized, more available. This wave of progression ushered in the popularity of geo-social networking – the ability to advice your network and your network’s network about your whereabouts at any given time of day. This, in the moment, where am I, sharing can be done via a popular geo-networking site called Foursquare.
Foursquare is a location based social networking platform that allows users to “check-in” at venues using a mobile device. Users are awarded points and/or badges by checking in at locations with certain tags or for the frequency of “check-ins”. Users can share their location virally, via Twitter and Facebook, thereby blasting their location to their network and their network’s network and inadvertently to those with less than virtuous intentions for this information.
As a marketing tool, Foursquare and similar geo-tagging sites have their benefit. Some advantages are: promoting a sale or special for a specific area, determining the faithful followers of a specific business location and the ability to share comments about a specific location. I have not created a Foursquare account and after read the following post doubt that I will: please read.
In my role as a virtual service provider, I would use this service or one similar to it to promote my client’s business in line with their social media strategy. Personally, virally sharing that I’m away from home for 2 weeks or won’t be home until late is a level of sharing that’s better achieved via word of mouth on a need to know basis.
What’s your view on geo-social networking platforms?
The word legacy is a small word with a lot of gravity and depth. It may conjure up thoughts of financial inheritance, rights of passage to head of household or an imprint in history.
My coach asked me a similar question last year “what would you like your legacy to be?” Thinking about perpetuity caused me to evaluate my business plan. My business will be the foundation for my legacy. It will give me the platform to partner with people and/or organizations for which I have synergy. My business will also give me the opportunity to participate in supporting causes I believe in - women, children and hunger.
For me, creating a legacy is not only how much money I’ve made but how did I use that money to help support the causes I believe in.
Have you thought about your legacy? How would you like to be remembered?
Do you have a cause, hobby or interest that you would like to spend more time on? Or do you want to spend more time on income-generating activities within your business so your business will be your legacy? Perhaps you can’t because daily administrative tasks are bogging you down.
I’m here to help. Transition those tasks to me @ www.setufreeva.com – then go build your legacy!
The media endorses it – most people engage in it – companies advertise on it – what is it? If you answered Social Media you are correct.
Social media is represented in various mediums – Facebook, LinkedIn, instant messaging, and texting – all forms of communication. I’m using another form right now – blogging.
Blogs are a means to engage, inform and share. The key to blogging is fresh content, especially if your blog is attached to your main website. Some blogs are personal. They enable family and friends who are separated by distance to keep in touch. Other blogs are business oriented. They include updates from the CEO’s desk, announcements about major company initiatives and new-products offerings.
My website provides tips on business blogging. It also notes some ways to engage, inform and share information with your target audience. Sign up for my “Social Media Marketing” series @ http://www.SetUFreeVA.com to read more.
The internet has become an integral part of most people’s lives. They interact with friends, family and even form new relationships online. All of these online connections comprise a virtual community.
The members of a virtual community share pictures, videos, and specific news on various social platforms. Popular social platforms include Facebook , LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. Sharing useful information with your virtual community keeps members interested and also provides an information pool to be accessed when needed.
There are several methods to share and engage your virtual community. I have highlighted a few in my “Social Media Marketing” series. Sign up to receive them @ http://www.SetUFreeVA.com.
Reputation is determined by perception. In today’s world of viral media – Facebook, MySpace and YouTube – comments, pictures and videos help to shape the concept of you and your business. The cliché – good news travels fast but bad news travels faster – is evident daily in internet postings.
Safeguarding your reputation – personal and professional – requires vigilance and due diligence. Two ways to monitor your online reputation are engaging a service provider and doing-it-yourself. A powerful web-based tool that is used for monitoring is Google alerts.
This tool allows a user to set-up email notifications based on specific keywords and/or phrases. The notifications are delivered directly to your inbox. To learn of other techniques, sign up for my “Social Media Marketing” series @ http://www.SetUFreeVA.com.
This week, April 18th to 24th, is National Volunteer week. People volunteer for various reasons, some may be – hands-on learning experience, filling a temporary need or for the give back/pay forward feeling.
Are you contemplating a major life change like opening a business? Perhaps you are considering becoming a virtual service provider…you may be wondering – “how can I apply my skills to this new venture?” Test the waters by volunteering. Volunteering is a win/win situation – you gain hands on experience, increased confidence and other warm and fuzzy intangible feels while providing a needed service or task to a cause, organization or individual.
I volunteer virtually and on-site – it’s time-consuming but extremely gratifying. So I’m encouraging you to seek out a need, identify a cause, offer yourself in the form of volunteerism – it pays!
You can try these sites for opportunities: volunteermatch.org or Volunteers of America or countless others.
If you decide to volunteer – please tell me about it! I’m looking forward to your comments.
As I stated in Part 1 of Women and Money, the theme of the Total Woman Business Conference was finances.
Another impressive presenter that day was Helen Kim, Money Relationship Mentor. She discussed our sub-conscious relationship with money – stressing that we need clarity about what money means to us. She referenced four character types relative to their action or re-action to money. They are:
- Under-earner – characterized by excessive volunteering, under-billing of time, bartering as a way to avoid money transactions, content to perform “cave jobs” – projects that keep them isolated. They also avoid raising rates and may resent people who have money. They have a general belief that the harder you work the more money you’ll make.
- Debiting – a vicious cycle exacerbated by a sense of entitlement – “I deserve…” Helen states that debting is the manifestation of unmet needs.
- Overspending/Over-shopping – we are in business to make money; simple arithmetic shows that we should not spend more than we make. This type of money relationship can be triggered by:
- Loneliness - shopping fills the void
- Avoidance - shop to avoid an issue/problem
- Control – you are in charge when you are spending
- Fear – you make purchases for the sole purpose of giving it away – to abate the fear of abandonment
Helen suggest that you stop and ask yourself “how do feel?”, “what am I shopping for?”, “do I need it?” She also suggested a resource by April Benson “To Buy or not to Buy”
- Under-spending – characterized by feeling you are undeserving of good fortune or a fear that you can’t handle money or a concern that you’ll “show-up” your parents by surpassing their income level
Do you see yourself in any of these character types? Perhaps, like me, you straddle two of these types. Through education, sharing and a more conscious awareness of our actions and reactions to money – we will have a balanced, comfortable relationship with our finances.
If you would like to have a better money relationship – check out some free giveaways from Helen Kim.
